ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 (1.3 mm) observations of dense cores in three massive molecular clouds within the central molecular zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, including the Dust Ridge cloud e, Sgr C, and the 20 km s ^−1 cloud, at a spatial resolution of 2000 au. Amon...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Zhenying Zhang Xing Lu Tie Liu Sheng-Li Qin Adam Ginsburg Yu Cheng Hauyu Baobab Liu Daniel L. Walker Xindi Tang Shanghuo Li Qizhou Zhang Thushara Pillai Jens Kauffmann Cara Battersby Siyi Feng Suinan Zhang Qi-Lao Gu Fengwei Xu Wenyu Jiao Xunchuan Liu Li Chen Qiu-yi Luo Xiaofeng Mai Zi-yang Li Dongting Yang Xianjin Shen Meizhu Liu Zhiqiang Shen |
| author_facet | Zhenying Zhang Xing Lu Tie Liu Sheng-Li Qin Adam Ginsburg Yu Cheng Hauyu Baobab Liu Daniel L. Walker Xindi Tang Shanghuo Li Qizhou Zhang Thushara Pillai Jens Kauffmann Cara Battersby Siyi Feng Suinan Zhang Qi-Lao Gu Fengwei Xu Wenyu Jiao Xunchuan Liu Li Chen Qiu-yi Luo Xiaofeng Mai Zi-yang Li Dongting Yang Xianjin Shen Meizhu Liu Zhiqiang Shen |
| author_sort | Zhenying Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 (1.3 mm) observations of dense cores in three massive molecular clouds within the central molecular zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, including the Dust Ridge cloud e, Sgr C, and the 20 km s ^−1 cloud, at a spatial resolution of 2000 au. Among the 834 cores identified from the 1.3 mm continuum, we constrain temperatures and linewidths of 253 cores using local thermodynamic equilibrium methods to fit the H _2 CO and/or CH _3 CN spectra. We determine their masses using the 1.3 mm dust continuum and derived temperatures, and then evaluate their virial parameters using the H _2 CO and/or CH _3 CN linewidths and construct the core mass functions (CMFs). We find that the contribution of external pressure is crucial for the virial equilibrium of the dense cores in the three clouds, which contrasts with the environment in the Galactic disk where dense cores are already bound, even without the contribution of external pressure. With our new temperature estimates we also find that the CMFs show a Salpeter-like slope in the high-mass (≳3–6 M _⊙ ) end, a change from previous works. Combined with the possible top-heavy initial mass functions (IMFs) in the CMZ, our result suggests that gas accretion and further fragmentation may play important roles in transforming the CMF to the IMF. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ff819f2a517c4dbda76fc945eadef0cf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-ff819f2a517c4dbda76fc945eadef0cf2025-02-03T17:30:03ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0198014410.3847/1538-4357/ad9f28ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass FunctionsZhenying Zhang0https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4295-5010Xing Lu1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2619-9305Tie Liu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5286-2564Sheng-Li Qin3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2302-0613Adam Ginsburg4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6431-9633Yu Cheng5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8691-4588Hauyu Baobab Liu6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2300-2626Daniel L. Walker7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7330-8856Xindi Tang8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4154-4309Shanghuo Li9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1275-5251Qizhou Zhang10https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2384-6589Thushara Pillai11https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2133-4862Jens Kauffmann12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5094-6393Cara Battersby13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6073-9320Siyi Feng14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4707-8409Suinan Zhang15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8389-6695Qi-Lao Gu16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2826-1902Fengwei Xu17https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5950-1932Wenyu Jiao18https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9822-7817Xunchuan Liu19https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8315-4248Li Chen20https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8154-4205Qiu-yi Luo21https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4506-3171Xiaofeng Mai22https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7573-0145Zi-yang Li23https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7028-0735Dongting Yang24Xianjin Shen25https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3244-3508Meizhu Liu26https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5789-7504Zhiqiang Shen27https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3540-8746School of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University , Kunming 650091, People’s Republic of China ; xinglu@shao.ac.cn; Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University , Kunming 650091, People’s Republic of China ; xinglu@shao.ac.cnDepartment of Astronomy, University of Florida , 211 Bryant Space Science Center, P.O. Box 112055, Gainesville, FL 32611-2055, USANational Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, JapanDepartment of Physics, National Sun Yat-Sen University , No. 70, Lien-Hai Road, Kaohsiung City 80424, Taiwan, ROC; Center of Astronomy and Gravitation, National Taiwan Normal University , Taipei 116, TaiwanUK ALMA Regional Centre Node, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, The University of Manchester , Manchester, M13 9PL, UKXinjiang Astronomical Observatory , 150 Science 1-Street, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, People’s Republic of China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100080, People’s Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Urumqi 830011, People’s Republic of China; Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Radio Astrophysics , Urumqi 830011, People’s Republic of ChinaMax Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyCenter for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USAHaystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 99 Millstone Road, Westford, MA 01886, USAHaystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 99 Millstone Road, Westford, MA 01886, USADepartment of Physics, University of Connecticut , 196A Auditorium Road, Unit 3046 Storrs, CT 06269, USADepartment of Astronomy, Xiamen University , Zengcuo’an West Road, Xiamen 361005, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaKavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China; I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln , Zülpicher Straße 77, D-50937 Köln, Germany; Department of Astronomy, School of Physics, Peking University , Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University , Kunming 650091, People’s Republic of China ; xinglu@shao.ac.cnShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China; School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , A20 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of China; School of Astronomy and Space Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University , Kunming 650091, People’s Republic of China ; xinglu@shao.ac.cn; Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University , Kunming 650091, People’s Republic of China ; xinglu@shao.ac.cnSchool of Physics and Astronomy, Yunnan University , Kunming 650091, People’s Republic of China ; xinglu@shao.ac.cnCenter for Astrophysics, Guangzhou University , Guangzhou 510006, People’s Republic of ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , 80 Nandan Road, Shanghai 200030, People’s Republic of ChinaWe present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 6 (1.3 mm) observations of dense cores in three massive molecular clouds within the central molecular zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way, including the Dust Ridge cloud e, Sgr C, and the 20 km s ^−1 cloud, at a spatial resolution of 2000 au. Among the 834 cores identified from the 1.3 mm continuum, we constrain temperatures and linewidths of 253 cores using local thermodynamic equilibrium methods to fit the H _2 CO and/or CH _3 CN spectra. We determine their masses using the 1.3 mm dust continuum and derived temperatures, and then evaluate their virial parameters using the H _2 CO and/or CH _3 CN linewidths and construct the core mass functions (CMFs). We find that the contribution of external pressure is crucial for the virial equilibrium of the dense cores in the three clouds, which contrasts with the environment in the Galactic disk where dense cores are already bound, even without the contribution of external pressure. With our new temperature estimates we also find that the CMFs show a Salpeter-like slope in the high-mass (≳3–6 M _⊙ ) end, a change from previous works. Combined with the possible top-heavy initial mass functions (IMFs) in the CMZ, our result suggests that gas accretion and further fragmentation may play important roles in transforming the CMF to the IMF.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9f28Galactic centerStar formationMolecular clouds |
| spellingShingle | Zhenying Zhang Xing Lu Tie Liu Sheng-Li Qin Adam Ginsburg Yu Cheng Hauyu Baobab Liu Daniel L. Walker Xindi Tang Shanghuo Li Qizhou Zhang Thushara Pillai Jens Kauffmann Cara Battersby Siyi Feng Suinan Zhang Qi-Lao Gu Fengwei Xu Wenyu Jiao Xunchuan Liu Li Chen Qiu-yi Luo Xiaofeng Mai Zi-yang Li Dongting Yang Xianjin Shen Meizhu Liu Zhiqiang Shen ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions The Astrophysical Journal Galactic center Star formation Molecular clouds |
| title | ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions |
| title_full | ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions |
| title_fullStr | ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions |
| title_full_unstemmed | ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions |
| title_short | ALMA Observations of Massive Clouds in the Central Molecular Zone: External-pressure-confined Dense Cores and Salpeter-like Core Mass Functions |
| title_sort | alma observations of massive clouds in the central molecular zone external pressure confined dense cores and salpeter like core mass functions |
| topic | Galactic center Star formation Molecular clouds |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9f28 |
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